SAN DIEGO, March 24, 2017 – There are no lukewarm opinions about last Saturday’s unified middleweight championship or super flyweight championship fights. The two razor-close decisions had the boxing community, boxing media, and boxing fans talking all week.

Gennady Golovkin left New York with his perfect record intact. Photo: Ed Mulholland, HBO Boxing

HBO Sports airs the exclusive replay of “World Championship Boxing: Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez vs. Srisikat Sor Rungvisai” this Saturday, March 25, at 10 pm ET/PT. The HBO Sports team, which was ringside at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the live HBO Pay-Per-View® presentation on March 18, called all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

The fights will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.

Srisikat Sor Rungvisai and his team were elated at his upset decision victory Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Photo: Ed Mulholland, HBO Boxing

The spirited discussion about the outcome of both bouts and what it means for the athletes involved is exactly what boxing needs. No matter your opinion, everyone watching whether at The Garden or on pay per view were riveted every minute during both bouts and in suspense until ring announcer Michael Buffer read the judges’ scorecards. Close, competitive fights are good for boxing. Blowouts are momentary pleasures, but these are the fights with lasting value.

Golovkin, a native of Kazakhstan now living in Santa Monica, California, risked his perfect record of 36-0 with 33 knockouts, his multiple titles, and his 23 fight knockout streak against Brooklyn’s Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs). Jacobs took Golovkin the 12-round distance for the first time in his career in a nail-biting, hard-fought thriller. Golovkin won a unanimous decision.

In the co-main, the world’s pound-for-pound number one fighter Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KOs), a hero in his native Nicaragua, against a little-known boxer in the U.S., challenger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (41-4-1, 38 KOs) of Thailand. To the shock of the Madison Square Garden audience, Rungvisai came away with a split decision win, Gonzalez’s WBC super flyweight belt, and handed Gonzalez his first professional defeat.

Watch these keys to the fights:

Power: Both Golovkin and Gonzalez are known as fearsome power punchers. Golovkin knocked Jacobs down in the second round, and nearly did so again in the seventh round. Gonzalez landed several potential knockout punches on Rungvisai, but could not drop him; in turn, he suffered his first knockdown in a decade in the first round. Around the knockouts, whose power punches truly landed flush and hurt his opponent?

Effective Aggression: Which boxer was most successful directing his offense toward his opponent? Did he capitalize on mistakes? Who was the busier fighter throwing punches? Who was the more accurate puncher?

Roman Gonzalez (left) and Srisikat Sor Rungvisai went head to head literally at times during their super flyweight bout. Photo: Ed Mulholland, HBO Boxing

Ring Generalship: Which athlete seemed to be “directing” the fight? Who was moving forward where he wanted to go, the one appearing to stalk his opponent rather than backing up? Who more often put his opponent into position through footwork or body placement where he was teed up to be hit?

Defense: Although both bouts featured boxers not primarily known for their defensive skills, who was able to avoid or absorb blows from his opponent through anticipation, movement, blocking, or counterpunching?

Roman Gonzalez suffered significant cuts due to head butts, yet he still managed to finish the fight. Photo: Ed Mulholland, HBO Boxing

Determination: Which boxer possessed the mental strength and emotional determination to push through fatigue, pain, or injury to carry on during difficult stretches in the fight?

Immediately following the two fights, HBO Sports presents the feature “2 Days: Vasyl Lomachenko” at 12:10 a.m. ET/PT. The talented Lomachenko makes his 2017 ring debut Saturday, April 8 vs. Jason Sosa live on an HBO tripleheader telecast from Oxon Hill, Maryland’s new MGM National Harbor Arena. Should Lomachenko win, he could step into the number one pound-for-pound position replacing Gonzalez.

Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, APR, is President/Owner of the Falcon Valley Group in San Diego, California. She is also a serious boxing fan covering the Sweet Science for Communities. Read more Ringside Seat in Communities Digital News. Follow Gayle on Facebook and on Twitter @PRProSanDiego.

Please credit “Gayle Falkenthal for Communities Digital News” when quoting from or linking to this story.

Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, MS, APR, is President of the Falcon Valley Group, a San Diego based communications consulting firm. Falkenthal is a veteran award-winning broadcast and print journalist, editor, producer, talk host and commentator. She is an instructor at National University in San Diego, and previously taught in the School of Journalism & Media Studies at San Diego State University.